
Direct marketing is about intelligent, targeted communication in the right place at the right time about the relevant benefits of your product or service and then recording and measuring the 'personal' details of your customers and their behaviour so that you know the results and effectiveness of your marketing campaign.
Direct marketing has been used successfully for many years by a vast range of organisations for short & long-term marketing programmes. But it's best considered as the basis of a continuing long-term relationship to engage your customers in a one-to-one relationship with your brand. Because the most profitable customers you can have are those with whom you have a genuine relationship.
Whilst there are very many direct marketing media and direct marketing techniques used by direct marketers, the reasons for developing that continuing long term relationship is almost always the key to why direct marketing is important to both 'consumer' and producer, reasons such as: convenience, time saving, no travel, armchair comfort, detailed information, price, extended credit, protection/guarantees, exclusivity/unique product or service.
For many companies, direct marketing is the most cost-effective form of marketing. From direct mail and door drops to telemarketing and direct EMail marketing, it allows you to target customers with greater accuracy than any other method. And now, of course there is direct online marketing or direct Internet Marketing.
You can articulate and implement compelling offers, designed to motivate prospects' response to the "What's in it for me?" question. "What's in it for me?" is the only question that matters to prospects and customers - and you have just seconds to give a compelling answer. Otherwise, they change the channel, click away, or toss your catalogue or direct mail into the bin.
Delivering the right answer requires expertise on many fronts: analysis and testing, product development and merchandise selection, offer development, continuity planning, creative, media selection, and more. In other words direct marketing needs a direct marketing strategy and that means planning.
We listen to you to gain a genuine understanding of your business, the challenges it faces, the motivations and needs of your customers and potential customers. Our extensive knowledge and experience of direct marketing then provides original ideas, fresh thinking and an ability to understand your business requirements and desired impact. We then develop solutions which are intelligent, creative and most important of all - effective.
We keep our thinking clear, considering each aspect of a brief individually:
What are the objectives of the direct marketing brief?
What is the right proposition for the target audience?
Which channel(s) will effect the best response or transaction?
Which creative route will achieve the most effective solution?
As previously stated delivering the right answer requires expertise on many fronts and just a little more - experience. This is something that we at E-CRM have in spades.
For example, our founding partner has been involved in direct marketing for over 30 years, has helped to found The Institute of Direct Marketing and The Telephone Preference Service, has served on the council of the industry's governing body and lectured on the subject since the 1980s and has been involved in campaigns that use every direct marketing discipline - many of which have won awards.
We offer help and advice on your direct marketing strategy in the context of your business strategy on for a wide range of direct marketing activities including: television, radio, posters, press, inserts, direct mail, door drops, inbound telephone, outbound telephone and the internet.
"Since eCRM took over maintenance of website and SEO, the number of prospects I received from enquiries through my site has more than doubled! I am currently working with eCRM to plan the next level of development for my website to take it to the next level." Nigel Marriott, Marriott Statistical Consulting
"Great company, very friendly and open communication and ECRM were able to execute our development with a superior level of technical skill. 5 stars." Jon Gray, Workmap
"ECRM built Alexander Simpkin & Associates a web site par excellence that continues to proffer itself on Google first page of free links under the appropriate search entry. I would not hesitate to recommend this organisation to any business requiring any sort of eBusiness advice or execution." Alexander Simpkin, Alexander Simpkin & Associates
"I've used ECRM's services for about 2 years now. They have been very helpful to re-construct my whole website at reasonable rates. Their knowledge on marketing via internet-google has helped me to achieve more enquires, sales, and commissions. They update my pages and we go over my stats. re: google searches every few months to make sure I'm getting the best from my website in marketing terms. I would highly recommend their services". Laura Lian